Home Opinion Midweek Mouth-off: Sci-fi reboot time

Midweek Mouth-off: Sci-fi reboot time

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Given that Hollywood seems to have ploughed through most of the hit (and not so hit) horror franchises, science fiction seems to be the new genre of choice when it comes to greenlighting reboots and remakes.

Today we want to know what you think of the upcoming RoboCop – given that we’ve now finally seen the first trailer for the February 2014 release? Oh, and what are your feelings about the fact that flawed-but-fun Stargate is being reimagined as a new trilogy?

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Critical Hit as an organisation.

Last Updated: September 11, 2013

33 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief of Rivia

    September 11, 2013 at 11:19

    I’m game for a new Stargate. New RoboCop looks kinda cool

    Reply

    • Kromas

      September 11, 2013 at 11:33

      He wants to completely ignore the TV series canon. I really am sorry but as big as the movie was the series was much MUCH bigger and to just plain ignore everything is commercial suicide.

      Reply

      • Grant Hancock

        September 11, 2013 at 11:35

        Ahh shite … well that just pisses me off !

        Reply

      • Admiral Chief of Rivia

        September 11, 2013 at 11:39

        WHAT? Screw that then

        Reply

        • Kromas

          September 11, 2013 at 12:09

          My exact words when I first heard about it. It is like making an Alien movie with only 15 seconds of an actual xenomorph in it …. oh wait.

          Reply

      • James Francis

        September 11, 2013 at 12:25

        I don’t agree. The Stargate movie always stood apart for me. Sure, the TV series built a cult following, but it would be suicide to rely on canon that only a certain part of the audience cares about. Hell, my mother knows Stargate, but never heard of the TV show.

        Reply

        • Kromas

          September 11, 2013 at 12:36

          I suppose you do make a valid point but I counter propose that you need to look at numbers. My mother has seen the movie ages ago and she did not really much care for it. My dad hated the movie but loved the series (partly cause he loves Richard Dean Anderson (I mean who can hate McGuyver)). His immediate reaction when I told him about it was that he won’t support the movie. Now he is not a sci-fi fan like me but he does believe in official canon and the series is official canon. This I think with have a massive effect on ticket sales. It would be the same if the new star wars movie has no Sith or Jedi in it at all. It would fail.

          Reply

          • James Francis

            September 11, 2013 at 12:55

            Well, if your dad hated the movie I doubt he’d qualify as someone who might be interested in seeing sequels…

    • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

      September 11, 2013 at 12:45

      I don’t mind if they start a new Star Gate. There was talk to set it 20 years in the future, but come on, Douglas can barely walk these day!

      Reply

      • James Francis

        September 11, 2013 at 12:56

        Take that back. NOBODY disses Snake Plissken!

        Reply

        • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

          September 11, 2013 at 13:02

          Snake is the BOMB! But right now, he’d MISS THE TIN! *RUNS

          Reply

  2. James Francis

    September 11, 2013 at 11:24

    I really don’t get why Robocop has a human hand. I’ve heard some of the explanations, but it still doesn’t add up. And this isn’t a fan or geek nitpick – it just doesn’t make sense, like putting a cartwheel on a super car. That makes me worry a little about the decisions made while the project was conceived.

    But I’d be happy to see more Stargate movies. While the numerous TV shows were fun, none really matched the bombastic feel of the feature film.

    But the one I’m most interested in are the plans to remake Westworld. That might be quite cool.

    Reply

    • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

      September 11, 2013 at 12:50

      I want a series of new movies too. Yes, I loved the series and have seen all of them. But the movie kicked arse, more of that please. Also, it gets to the point where it’s just not possible to carry on the franchise, age…

      Reply

  3. Grant Hancock

    September 11, 2013 at 11:33

    New Stargate would be cool … but it faces the Star Trek effect of pissing off fans by trying to be too Hollywood … if it’s faithful to the series and then can be very cool.

    Stargate a la Star Trek: Into Darkness = fail

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief of Rivia

      September 11, 2013 at 11:39

      Good point…

      Reply

    • James Francis

      September 11, 2013 at 12:26

      But Into Darkness was excellent and showed a high level of respect for the conventions of the Star Trek universe. Sure, it did stuff differently, but I find that refreshing. The original timeline of Star Trek had run its course.

      Reply

      • Grant Hancock

        September 11, 2013 at 12:48

        Not in my opinion … I’m not saying it wasn’t entertaining, but it wasn’t Star Trek.

        Star Trek presents a utopian future view of the Earth, where our culture has progressed culturally beyond issues of race, gender, religion etc…. ToS had numerous woman on screen, the first ever inter-racial kiss on US television… TNG went even further having more complex female characters, multi-racial crews etc. Into Darkness gave us a virtually all white male cast (even casting the palest man on the planet as Kahn !?), and the only women with any screen time are only around for there cleavage (Marcus) or as a love interest (Uhura)…

        Then there are the lens-flares again… seriously !? why !?

        Numerous out-of character, poorly written scenes that make little sense eg. dumb opening sequence in which they break the prime directive for no good reason just so JJ could show a cooool shot of the Enterprise emerging from the sea

        Urban over-acting his bones character … etc. etc.

        Reply

        • James Francis

          September 11, 2013 at 13:00

          Yeah, uh, Kirk and co from the original broke the Prime Directive all the time. And the new movie does nothing worse with the casting’s races. In fact, they are exactly the same. TNG added two whole extra non-white actors and neither DS9 nor Voyager really pushed that aspect any harder. I see your point, but you are romanticizing the originals because you dislike the new films.

          Reply

          • Grant Hancock

            September 11, 2013 at 14:04

            I am not romanticizing anything… in the originals Kirk broke the prime directive and other starfleet protocols according to his judgement of the situation which posed a moral dilemma of some sort … not going around with a do first think later attitude

            And as for the casting … if you look at the extras of the tv shows you will clearly see how diverse the crews of the ships are… even on Klingon and Romulan there was usually a pretty good gender split.

          • James Francis

            September 11, 2013 at 14:11

            Compared to Picard, Kirk was totally ‘do first think later’. Also, you have to factor in how the death of Kirk’s dad affected him in this timeline, which made him even more gung ho. Ditto for the destruction of Vulcan on Spock. The characters are not quite the same, nor is Starfleet. That is the sacrifice of a new timeline. But I prefer that over the soap opera that Voyager, Enterprise and the previous few movies turned the franchise into.

            I’d also be a bit hesitant to compare countless TV episode’s casting decisions against only two movies.

      • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

        September 11, 2013 at 12:54

        Mmm. While I enjoyed the movie, they have veered rather far from the principles of Star Trek, principles that made me a trekkie. I mean, you could put them in a different ship, call it ‘Galaxy Explorers’ change some plot elements and you’d have a brand new story.

        Reply

        • James Francis

          September 11, 2013 at 13:04

          You can do that with the TOS shows as well…

          Reply

          • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

            September 11, 2013 at 13:47

            I don’t know. TOS at least focused on dialogue a lot more than whiz bang woooooo effects… As did TNG, DS9, V

          • James Francis

            September 11, 2013 at 13:52

            Fair point, but also feels a bit like you are nitpicking. Personally I think the new films are the best things to happen to the franchise since First Contact. In addition, by using the alternative timeline they have created room for themselves in a very Star Trek way.

          • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

            September 11, 2013 at 13:56

            Not nit picking at all. I loved the movies, really, even in 3D. They just didn’t feel like Star Trek. When Spock is in the chamber dying in WOK, I get tears each time I watch it. I didn’t this time, and I find that to be one of the most powerful scifi scenes ever.

          • James Francis

            September 11, 2013 at 14:07

            Yeah, but we are all older and more cynical than when those original emotional memories were made. V’ger scared the crap out of me – that doesn’t mean it was scarier than the Insidious lady. But I think the new films captured the spirit of Star Trek perfectly while getting rid of so much baggage picked up over the decades. There was a reason why DS9, Voyager and Enterprise wobbled – the franchise was starting to collapse in on itself. The new movies gives it the spring cleaning it has been demanding. Sure, it is a little more bombastic, but if you give the TOS and later TNG episodes a fresh look, you’ll see that has always been a part of Star Trek.

            What surprises me is that nobody here has moaned about the Klingons yet. I personally loved their new look and feel, but I can imagine some fans were livid.

          • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

            September 11, 2013 at 14:09

            Good points. And I get all teary STILL when watching that scene 🙂 (Last watched 6 months ago)

          • James Francis

            September 11, 2013 at 14:13

            Weir thing is, only on the second watching of Darkness did I realise they reversed the roles. And it was nice to see the second film focus more on Spock, as the first did on Kirk. It makes me very curious about what they will do in the third…

          • RincemySniperKittEH0-O

            September 11, 2013 at 14:14

            Ya. Just please, no more ‘super’ blood… 0-O

  4. Jay

    September 11, 2013 at 12:01

    The new Robocop looks like it’s been re-imagined as teenfic, judging by the trailer and PG-13 age restriction. I suppose it might appeal to a new generation of moviegoers, but those of us who grew up with the original are most likely in for disappointment.

    Reply

    • James Francis

      September 11, 2013 at 12:27

      Not to mention that Robocop is one of the best action/sci-fi movies ever made – right up there with Total Recall and 5th Element.

      Reply

  5. Alien Emperor Trevor

    September 11, 2013 at 14:08

    I would love to see a damn good Dune TV series or movies.

    Reply

    • James Francis

      September 11, 2013 at 14:08

      Yes!

      Reply

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